A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature

Ranging from traditional approaches to the most contemporary perspectives, such as feminist and gender studies, cultural studies, and postcolonial studies, A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature offers readers a variety of clearly articulated approaches to interpreting literature. This thoroughly updated sixth edition applies these diverse approaches to the same six classic works--"To His Coy Mistress," "Young Goodman Brown," "Everyday Use," Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, and Frankenstein--in a way proven to elicit student analysis by enriching their response to and understanding of the individual works and critical theory. (Andrew Marvell's poem "To His Coy Mistress," Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "Young Goodman Brown," and Alice Walker's story "Everyday Use" are included in full within this volume.)

New to this Edition:

Three new chapters--Materialisms (Chapter 4), Literature and Linguistics (Chapter 5), and Postcolonial Studies (Chapter 10)--present some of the latest theory and criticism, including ecocriticism, Literary Darwinism, third-wave feminism, and black maternal theory, as well as expansion of foundational topics such as Marxism

Expanded discussions of film and visual texts link analysis of images--such as Velázquez's Las Meniñas (front cover) and Picasso's interpretations of this painting--to analysis of literature

Summaries of key points at chapter ends reinforce concepts

A glossary of literary terms (boldfaced at their first appearance in each chapter) helps students master and apply these terms in criticism

A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature

Description

Ranging from traditional approaches to the most contemporary perspectives, such as feminist and gender studies, cultural studies, and postcolonial studies, A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature offers readers a variety of clearly articulated approaches to interpreting literature. This thoroughly updated sixth edition applies these diverse approaches to the same six classic works--"To His Coy Mistress," "Young Goodman Brown," "Everyday Use," Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, and Frankenstein--in a way proven to elicit student analysis by enriching their response to and understanding of the individual works and critical theory. (Andrew Marvell's poem "To His Coy Mistress," Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "Young Goodman Brown," and Alice Walker's story "Everyday Use" are included in full within this volume.)

Table of Contents

2. Traditional ApproachesI. First, a Note on Traditional ApproachesII. First Things First: Textual Scholarship, Genres, and Source StudyA. Textual Scholarship: Do We Have an Accurate Version of What We Are Studying? 1. General Observations 2. Text Study in PracticeB. Matters of Genre: What Are We Dealing With? 1. An Overview of Genre 2. Genre Characteristics in PracticeC. Source Study: Did Earlier Writings Help this Work Come into Being?III. Historical and Biographical ApproachesA. General ObservationsB. Historical and Biographical Approaches in Practice1. "To His Coy Mistress"2. Hamlet3. Huckleberry Finn4. "Young Goodman Brown"5. "Everyday Use"6. FrankensteinIV. Moral and Philosophical ApproachesA. General ObservationsB. Moral and Philosophical Approaches in Practice1. "To His Coy Mistress"2. Hamlet3. Huckleberry Finn4. "Young Goodman Brown"5. "Everyday Use"6. FrankensteinV. Summary of Key PointsVI. Limitations of Traditional Approaches

3. The Formalist ApproachI. The Process of Formalist Analysis: Making the Close ReaderII. A Brief Overview of Formalist CriticismA. The Course of Half a CenturyB. Backgrounds of Formalist TheoryC. The "New Criticism"D. Reader-Response Criticism: A ReactionIII. Constants of the Formalist Approach: Some Key Concepts, Terms, and DevicesA. Form and Organic FormB. Texture, Image, SymbolC. FallaciesD. Point of ViewE. The Speaker's VoiceF. Tension, Irony, ParadoxIV. The Formalist Approach in PracticeA. Word, Image, and Theme: Space-Time Metaphors in "To His Coy Mistress"B. The Dark, the Light, and the Pink: Ambiguity as Form in "Young Goodman Brown" 1. Virtues and Vices 2. Symbol or Allegory? 3. Loss Upon LossC. Romance and Reality, Land and River: The Journey as Repetitive Form in Huckleberry FinnD. Dialectic as Form: The Trap Metaphor in Hamlet 1. The Trap Imagery 2. The Cosmological Trap 3. "Seeming" and "Being" 4. "Seeing" and "Knowing"E. Irony and Narrative Voice: A Formalist Approach to "Everyday Use"F. Frankenstein: A Thematic ReadingV. Summary of Key PointsVI. Limitations of the Formalist Approach

4. MaterialismsI. MarxismII. British Cultural MaterialismIII. New HistoricismIV. EcocriticismV. Literary DarwinismVI. Materialisms in PracticeA. A New History of "To His Coy Mistress"B. Hamlet's EvolutionC. Frankenstein: The Creature as ProletarianD. "The Lore of Fiends": Hawthorne and his MarketE. Fathers and Sons, Gods and Slaves in Huckleberry FinnF. "But they're priceless!" Material versus Exchange Value in "Everyday Use"VII. Summary of Key PointsVIII. Limitations of Materialist Approaches

6. The Psychological Approach: FreudI. Aims and PrinciplesA. Abuses and Misunderstandings of the Psychological ApproachB. Freud's TheoriesC. Other TheoriesII. The Psychological Approach in PracticeA. Hamlet: the Oedipus ComplexB. Rebellion Against the Father in Huckleberry FinnC. Prometheus Manqué: The Monster UnboundD. E. Sexual Imagery in F. Morality Principle Over Pleasure Principle in III. Summary of Key PointsIV. Other Possibilities and Limitations of the Psychological Approach

7. Mythological and Archetypal ApproachesI. Definitions and MisconceptionsII. Some Examples of ArchetypesA. ImagesB. Archetypal Motifs or PatternsC. Archetypes as GenresIII. Myth Criticism in PracticeA. Anthropology and Its Uses1. The Sacrificial Hero: Hamlet2. Archetypes of Time and Immortality: "To His Coy Mistress"B. Jungian Psychology and Its Archetypal Insights1. Some Special Archetypes: Shadow, Persona, and Anima2. "Young Goodman Brown": A Failure of Individuation3. Creator or Creator: Who is the Real Monster in Frankenstein?4. Syntheses of Jung and AnthropologyC. Myth Criticism and the American Dream: Huckleberry Finn as the American AdamD. "Everyday Use": The Great [Grand]MotherIV. Summary of Key PointsV. Limitations of Myth Criticism

8. Feminisms and Gender StudiesI. Feminisms and Feminist Literary Criticism: DefinitionsII. First-, Second-, and Third-Wave FeminismsIII. The Literary Woman: Created or Constructed?A. Feminism and PsychoanalysisB. Feminists of ColorC. Marxist and Materialist FeminismsD. Feminist Film StudiesIV. Gender StudiesV. Feminisms and Gender Studies in PracticeA. The Marble Vault: The Mistress in "To His Coy Mistress"B. Frailty, Thy Name Is Hamlet: Hamlet and WomenC. "The Workshop of Filthy Creation": Men and Women in Frankenstein1. Mary and Percy, Author and Editor2. Masculinity and Femininity in the Frankenstein Family3. "I Am Thy Creature. . ."D. Men, Women, and the Loss of Faith in "Young Goodman Brown"E. Women and "Sivilization" in Huckleberry Finn F. "In Real Life": Recovering the Feminine Past in "Everyday Use"VI. Summary of Key PointsVII. The Future of Feminist and Gender Studies: Some Problems and Limitations

9. Cultural StudiesI. What Is (or Are) Cultural Studies?II. United States Ethnic StudiesA. African American WritersB. Latina/o WritersC. Native American LiteraturesD. Asian American WritersIII. Postmodernism and Popular CultureA. PostmodernismB. Popular CultureIV. Cultural Studies in PracticeA. Two Characters in Hamlet: Marginalization with a VengeanceB. "To His Coy Mistress": Implied CultureC. From Paradise Lost to Frank-N-Furter: The Creature Lives! 1. Revolutionary Births 2. "A Race of Devils"3. The Frankenpheme in Popular Culture: Fiction, Drama, Film, Television D. A Postmodern Goodman Brown E. "Telling the Truth, Mainly": Huck and Twain as TrickstersF. Cultures in Conflict: A Story Looks at Cultural Change V. Summary of Key Points VI. Limitations of Cultural Studies

10. Postcolonial Studies I. Postcolonialism: Definitions II. Some Key Figures III. Postcolonial Critical PracticesA. Seventeenth-Century English Colonization and "To His Coy Mistress"B. Hamlet: Postcolonial AdaptationsC. Frankenstein: Are There Any New Worlds?D. Jim's Superstitions in Huckleberry FinnE. Salem: A City Upon a Hill?F. The End of an Era: "Everyday Use" IV. Summary of Key PointsV. Limitations of Postcolonial Studies